Ponderings on Pocky
by chibiaries
Summary: Sasuke. Sakura. Pocky. Need I say more?


It was a sunny spring day in Kohona, warm but not too hot, breezy but not too cold. It was a perfect day for a picnic or watching clouds, but strangely enough, two teens were running laps around the otherwise empty training grounds. A boy and a girl (actually the girl was the one running and the boy was merely strolling behind her with a bored what-the-heck-am-I-doing-here-I-don't-need-anymore-training look on his face). Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. Sakura slowed to a walk, gasping slightly, and swiped off the sweat glistening on her forehead, then stared at Sasuke, who was still walking as if he didn't have a care in the world. She bowed her head and suppressed a groan of frustration. Team 7 was supposed to train together today, as the weather was so perfect, but Naruto hadn't left his bed that morning(he whined about a stomachache from a ramen-eating contest last night), and after Kakashi had showed up at the bridge TWO hours late, per usual, only to mutter a quick apology and ditch her and Sasuke on the bridge(Sakura could've sworn she heard their sensei chuckle delightedly about a new edition of Icha Icha Paradise at the bookstore, with 10 additional pages for an alternate ending). So she, Sakura, had oh-so-brightly decided to seize an opportunity for one-on-one time with Sasuke and had perkily suggested that they could train together without Naruto or Kakashi-sensei. So now she was working her butt off to impress Sasuke, but he didn't even pay any attention to her at all(her inner Sakura at this point kept yelling 'baka!' at herself to no avail). He still strolled behind her at a snail's pace, his face cool, stoic, and impassive as always. Well, no point in continuing training if Sasuke didn't feel like it.

"Um…Sasuke-kun? Do you want a snack break?"

He stared blankly at her for about five seconds and replied with a noncommittal "Hn."

"Okay! I'll get the snacks! My treat!" Sakura rushed off to a little convience store, snatched two boxes of snacks off the shelf, paid the cashier, and ran puffing all the way back to the training grounds. She was afraid if she didn't go back in time, Sasuke would get bored and just leave. Fortunately, she saw him sitting cross -legged in the shade of a large cherry tree, deep in thought. Sakura smiled cheerfully and skipped over to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun...Look, I got snacks for us." She dangled a box of dark chocolate Pocky in front of him. He glance flickered up to her face momentarily and took the box from her hands, his face expressionless as always. He tore off one end of the crinkly wrapper, and stuck one stick of Pocky in his mouth. Then he leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes again. Sakura plopped on the grass next to him and proceeded to open her box of Pocky.

"Oh..." She had grabbed a box of pink strawberry flavored Pocky. A slight frown crept across her face. She had nothing against strawberries but as most people know, chocolate is preferred to strawberry. She sighed, picked out a stick, and munched thoughtfully.

"It's too sweet..." she mused aloud. "No wonder most people prefer chocolate..." She flopped her back onto the soft, green grass, and stared at the blue sky and the puffy, cottony clouds that drifted across the sky. The field was so soft, and the sunlight felt so warm. Sakura felt her eyelids slowly, ever-so-slowly closing, when a sudden shadow loomed over her and blocked the sun.

"Oh!" Sakura stiffened with surprise. She had almost forgotten about Sasuke. Now his perfectly calm, cool face was merely two inches from hers, and his night black eyes were scrutinizing her intensely. Their close proximity caused a light blush to redden her face, and his silky, too-long-on-purpose, ebony bangs tickled her forehead. He noticed her blush and smirked.

"Well?" he asked, in a slightly mocking tone. His warm breath wafted past her cheek. Sakura's fingers involuntarily scrabbled at the grass beneath her. It was taking a lot of self-control for her to resist the urge to glomp Sasuke at this particular moment. Especially a _dark-chocolate-Pocky-scented_ Sasuke.

"Do you want some?"

"Huh?" was her brilliant reply.

He shook his box of Pocky under her nose, and an irresistible chocolately fragrance issued from the box. Sakura blinked, and her fingers picked out a stick. She then popped it into her mouth and felt the sweet bliss of chocolate on her tongue.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn?"

"It doesn't seem fair that you get to eat less Pocky than me...so..." Sakura held out her strawberry Pocky box.

Sasuke pondered on her offer for a minute. He never actually had a chance to taste strawberry-flavored Pocky before. It was _pink, _for goodness's sake. What would the village think if they saw the last Uchiha strolling around munching out of a box of pink Pocky? But there was no one else around...

He slowly pulled out a stick from her box, and she smiled. _So many little things make her happy,_ he noted. Sasuke examined the strawberry Pocky for another minute, and saw that strangely enough, it was the same exact shade as Sakura's hair. He took a small bite and chewed, letting his taste buds judge if chocolate really tasted better than strawberry. He then stuck another dark chocolate Pocky between his lips, and a smiled slightly.

_No, Sakura was wrong on this one. They tasted good enough on their own, but MUCH better together._


End file.
